Continuing YouTube Saga

I duly disputed the muting of my music copyright video but of course have heard nothing back (as many of my IP professor colleagues from around the country predicted). The status of the video shows it is in dispute and simply states that YouTube is waiting for a response from Warner Music Group. It sounds like I’m SOL until/unless YouTube or WMG decides to bother with it. Because it is not a formal take down under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), I have no statutory rights for them to respond to my counter notification.

But it gets worse. On Tuesday the email below flashed into my inbox and I reflexively clicked on the link because it all seemed right given my dispute situation. Normally, I ignore or check the link of random emails like this. But, again, given that I was waiting for a response I assumed this was legit.

Hover your cursor or otherwise reveal the actual link. Don’t bother clicking though—it’s a Viagra knock-off site. Hopefully I didn’t wind up with a fistful of viruses etc on my Mac because of this.

The question: is this a more sophisticated phishing scam that intentionally preys on people waiting for administrative responses from big outlets like YouTube with public display of relevant information (like my video dispute)? Or am I just being paranoid? And even if I’m paranoid, are they still out to get me?

P.S. I’ll likely just repost the videos to Vimeo or maybe even UW Law’s servers and then update the embeds in my blog.

About Sean O'Connor

Sean O’Connor is the Boeing International Professor at the University of Washington School of Law (Seattle). He is also Chair of the Center for Advanced Study and Research on Innovation Policy and Faculty Director of the Cannabis Law &B Policy Project. With a diverse background in music, technology, philosophy, history, business, and law, he specializes in legal issues and strategies for entrepreneurship and the commercialization of innovation in biotechnology, information technology, and new media/digital arts.